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Now that gas is hitting $4+ in many places I started to wonder what the price of the cars would be if we took into account the base price and the millage with the cost of gas. I looked at 25,000, 50,000, 75,000 and 100,000 miles as well as $4, $6 (maybe in 2 years), $8 (maybe in 5 years), $10 (maybe in 5 years), and even $15 (let's hope not). The calculation is:
Average MPG = (City MPG + Highway MPG) / 2
(Number of Miles) / (Average MPG) x (Price For Gas) + (Base Price Of Car)
Granted that the true answer is more complicated than this, but this should give us a rough idea which cars are the most expensive to drive and which are the cheapest.
In calculating the price of gas, I had to factor in the higher price of gas for the Smart Car. Most of the time it appears to cost $0.20 more, so this is reflected in the calculations.
The 3 cheapest cars are marked in green with the lowest cost car in dark green. The 3 most expensive cars are marked in red with the highest priced car in dark red. The exception was the Hummer H3 which should always be marked in dark red, but is only only shown to see how really expensive a car can be.
For those who wish to try their hand at playing with the calculations, you can find the XLS and Numbers (MAC format) versions of the spreadsheets at:
.Mac - iDisk
You need to left click on the little down arrow icon (over to the right of the file name) to download the file.
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Several factors come into play here that causes the changes as we look across the chart. First with low cost cars and low millage (25,000) the lowest cost cars have the advantage. However, as the millage increases, the low cost cars with less than the best millage start to be the least expensive. Now the better millage cars start to become more cost effective.
Notice that even at $4 per gallon AND 100,000 miles, the Hybrid cars are still in the top 3 of the most expensive.
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Once the gas hits $6 per gallon, at 100,000 miles, the Toyota Prius no longer becomes the top 3 most expensive.
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At $8 per gallon and high millage, we start to see the cars like the Ford Focus and the Scion start to become the worst for costs. The Mini Cooper does poorly, because the base price is so high and the millage is not high enough to take it down enough to a reasonable price.
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At $10 a gallon, the Hybrid cars are still not the cheapest of the bunch and we have to hit at least 100,000 miles to put them in the mid range. Those who purchased Hybrid cars, assuming they are going to save big on gas, will never see the full savings due to the high initial cost.
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At $15 a gallon the Prius now ends up in the low cost category once we hit 75,000 miles. Notice that the Smart Pure was the best in every category for all gas prices and millages, because of the low cost and the high millage. The Smart Passion Coupe did move into this category once 75,000 miles at $4 per gallon or 50,000 miles at $6 per gallon was reached.
While the Smart Passion Cabriolet never reaches the lowest cost range due to the higher base price, it does come close as the price up gas goes up and the millage increases.
Bob Diaz
Average MPG = (City MPG + Highway MPG) / 2
(Number of Miles) / (Average MPG) x (Price For Gas) + (Base Price Of Car)
Granted that the true answer is more complicated than this, but this should give us a rough idea which cars are the most expensive to drive and which are the cheapest.
In calculating the price of gas, I had to factor in the higher price of gas for the Smart Car. Most of the time it appears to cost $0.20 more, so this is reflected in the calculations.
The 3 cheapest cars are marked in green with the lowest cost car in dark green. The 3 most expensive cars are marked in red with the highest priced car in dark red. The exception was the Hummer H3 which should always be marked in dark red, but is only only shown to see how really expensive a car can be.
For those who wish to try their hand at playing with the calculations, you can find the XLS and Numbers (MAC format) versions of the spreadsheets at:
.Mac - iDisk
You need to left click on the little down arrow icon (over to the right of the file name) to download the file.
Several factors come into play here that causes the changes as we look across the chart. First with low cost cars and low millage (25,000) the lowest cost cars have the advantage. However, as the millage increases, the low cost cars with less than the best millage start to be the least expensive. Now the better millage cars start to become more cost effective.
Notice that even at $4 per gallon AND 100,000 miles, the Hybrid cars are still in the top 3 of the most expensive.
Once the gas hits $6 per gallon, at 100,000 miles, the Toyota Prius no longer becomes the top 3 most expensive.
At $8 per gallon and high millage, we start to see the cars like the Ford Focus and the Scion start to become the worst for costs. The Mini Cooper does poorly, because the base price is so high and the millage is not high enough to take it down enough to a reasonable price.
At $10 a gallon, the Hybrid cars are still not the cheapest of the bunch and we have to hit at least 100,000 miles to put them in the mid range. Those who purchased Hybrid cars, assuming they are going to save big on gas, will never see the full savings due to the high initial cost.
At $15 a gallon the Prius now ends up in the low cost category once we hit 75,000 miles. Notice that the Smart Pure was the best in every category for all gas prices and millages, because of the low cost and the high millage. The Smart Passion Coupe did move into this category once 75,000 miles at $4 per gallon or 50,000 miles at $6 per gallon was reached.
While the Smart Passion Cabriolet never reaches the lowest cost range due to the higher base price, it does come close as the price up gas goes up and the millage increases.
Bob Diaz
